
The Making of SPIDERLAND by Slint - feat. Brian McMahan, Britt Walford, David Pajo and Todd Brashear
From Life of the Record by Life of the Record / Talkhouse
June 3, 2026 · 2h 29m · Season 5 · Episode 12
About this episode
The episode explores the making of Slint's album Spiderland, featuring insights from the band members.
For the 35th anniversary of Slint’s landmark second album, Spiderland, we take a detailed look at how it was made. Brian McMahan and Britt Walford first connected over a shared love of punk rock, growing up in Louisville, Kentucky in the early 1980s. They began forming bands when they were young teenagers, including Languid and Flaccid and Squirrel Bait. Another band, Maurice, was formed around this time and they began working with guitarist David Pajo. When Maurice ended, Walford and Pajo continued playing together and brought in bassist Ethan Buckler. After they performed at a unitarian church service where McMahan was in attendance, he joined the band soon after and they became Slint. They had befriended Steve Albini from playing shows with his band Big Black so they asked him to record their debut album. Tweez was self-released by their friend Jennifer Hartman in 1989. Buckler was unhappy with the sound of the record and decided to quit the band so Todd Brashear took over on bass. They recorded a single with Albini that caught the attention of Touch and Go Records, who signed them to a deal for their second album. After spending a summer working on new material, they recorded…
People in this episode
Guests: Brian McMahan, Britt Walford, David Pajo, Todd Brashear
Topics covered
- Slint
- music production
- punk rock
- Louisville music scene
- album history
- interviews
Keywords
- Slint
- Spiderland
- music history
- punk rock
- Louisville
- album production
- interview
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Slint, Touch and Go Records, Big Black, Maurice, Languid and Flaccid, Squirrel Bait, Tweez
Places: Louisville, Kentucky
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